The present invention generally relates to disposable, biodegradable items and more specifically to disposable items made from bioplastic resins.
Environment and sustainability have become increasingly important factors in the design and specification of medical and printing articles across the world. In hospitals, pharmaceuticals, life sciences, and healthcare industries, safe disposal of articles after use is an important issue. Special considerations are given to selecting materials in the final design for disposable articles, so as to reduce the quantity of medical and printing items that enter waste streams. These facilities and industries must initiate environmentally safe disposal methods because they generate a large amount of the biomedical and printing waste. Due to higher social responsibility and environmental concerns, corporations are being driven to produce more sustainable and environmentally safe products through government regulations, by institutional investors, and through consumer demand.
Bioplastic resins namely, polylactic acid (PLA), and polyhydroxyalkonate (PHA), are derived from a plant source, and are biodegradable.
Polylactic acid (PLA) is a transparent bioplastic produced from corn, beet and cane sugar. It not only resembles conventional petrochemical mass plastics, such as polyethylene (PE), polyethylene terephthalate (PET or PETE), and polypropylene (PP) in its characteristics, but it can also be processed easily on standard equipment that already exists for the production of conventional plastics. PLA has a density of 1.25 to 3 g cm, which is lower than PET, and PLA has a refractive index of 1.35-1.45, which is lower than PET, which has a refractive index of 1.54. PLA is currently used in biomedical applications, such as sutures, stents, dialysis media and drug delivery devices. It is also being evaluated as a material for tissue engineering.
The biopolymer poly-hydroxyalkonate (PHA) is a polyester produced by certain bacteria that process glucose or starch. PHA's characteristics are similar to those of the petro plastic polypropylene. The South American sugar industry, for example, has decided to expand PHA production to an industrial scale. PHA is distinguished primarily by its physical characteristics. It produces a transparent film at a melting point higher than 130 degrees Celsius, and is biodegradable without residue.
Poly3-hydoxybutrate-3-hydroxyhexxanate (PHBH) is a biodegradable resin. This co-polyester has been produced in a fermentation process using glucose and propionic acid as the carbon source for Alcaligenes eutrophus. It has mechanical and physical properties that vary based on the degree of co-polymerization. This bioplastic will undergo enzymatic biodegrading in the presence of microorganisms.
Cross-linked polymers may have problems biodegrading, since the crosslinking forms strong bonds that are resist to enzymatic biodegradation in the presence of microorganisms. Plastics are durable but degrade very slowly; the molecular bonds that make plastic are durable, making it resistant to natural processes of degradation.
Bioplastic resins have some distinct advantages over plastic and glass. Bioplastic has a much smaller carbon footprint compared to plastic or glass, and also uses less energy to form an article like a syringe, multidose syringes, specimen tube, scalpels, lancets, and sharps containers, suction canisters and ink and toner cartridges, hereby referred to as disposable medical and printing articles, DMPA. Bioplastic is biodegradable in an industrial composting unit. Bioplastic resins are from a plant source, and when plants are grown, they absorb carbon dioxide, thus decreasing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Plastic and glass disposable items have a higher carbon footprint than bioplastic items. Current DMPA, when disposed of, enter the waste stream, and may need incineration in a process that causes release of hydrocarbons and toxins into the atmosphere and creates fly ash that ends up in landfills. Bioplastic articles bypass this process, and are therefore environmentally safe and sustainable, when compared to plastic or glass. Bioplastic, however, has poor permeability characteristics, in reference to water, oxygen and carbon dioxide. Bioplastic also has poor flexibility properties, and PLA has poor thermal properties, with heat distortion threshold of 55 Celsius, compared to plastics.
Used disposable syringes, multidose syringes, specimen tubes, and cartridges, scalpels and sharps containers, suction canisters may be referred to as disposable medical & printing articles (or DMPA). DMPA create a biomedical waste stream. Unfortunately, there are no easy, non-polluting methods that destroy used DMPA. Decontamination of DMPA removes pathogens from body secretions or blood, attached to them. However, once the sterile DMPA are shredded and placed in landfills, it will be contaminated by other germs. People who step on the needles will remain at risk for injury and other infections. The other least popular option that destroys the DMPA after disposal is incineration or burning. DMPA, made of polypropylene, cyclic olefin polymers or plastic material when incinerated or burned, cause release of hydrocarbon, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and airborne toxins, and is not environmentally safe.
Bioplastic or bioplastics are from a renewable source, and are sustainable for they have a small carbon footprint. Current plastic and glass DMPA, when disposed of, enters the medical waste stream and creates a negative environmental impact. DMPA during incineration causes release of hydrocarbons and toxins into the atmosphere and create fly ash that ends up in landfills. When DMPA made from bioplastic enters the biomedical waste stream it can be sterilized using steam, radiation (UV or gamma) or ethylene oxide gas, then shredded and placed in an industrial composting unit. This method is referred to as Bio medical and printing waste Sterilization and Composting Process, (or BSCP), which avoids incineration. The compost end product has few negative impacts on the environment. One can also opt to collect the sterile bioplastic shredded material to recycle and reclaim the resin. The whole process is cradle to cradle and uses less energy thereby offering a sustainable and environmentally safe method of manufacturing and disposing DMPA.
Diabetics and others frequently have to take a parental medication or an injection. They find themselves in situations where the assistance of a health care professional to administer the subcutaneous or intramuscular injection of a measured amount of a liquid agent is generally not available. In such situations such persons need to have a low cost multi dose syringe that does not require the assistance of a health professional to achieve the desired measure of accuracy. It may be the case that such persons require more than one dose per day, where each dose may require a different volume.
In hospitals, pharmaceuticals, life sciences and health industries, ever increasing attention is being paid to needle stick problems due to the contemporary sensitivity of exposure to AIDS, hepatitis, and other serious blood-borne diseases. This is prevented by the use of safety needle caps and shields.
Existing specimen tubes for storing blood are currently made commonly from plastics and glass, which are not sustainable or environmentally safe.
Lancets may be commonly used in the treatment of diabetes. The small blood samples obtained may be tested for blood glucose, hemoglobin, make blood smear slides, allergy skin tests and many other blood tests.
Existing sharps containers are filled with used medical needles or other sharp medical sharp instruments, such as suture needles, IV catheters and scalpels. They fit into two main types: single-use, which are disposed of with the waste inside the container, or multi-use, which are replaced by a new container periodically. It is standard practice for used needles and other sharps to be placed immediately into a sharps container after a single use, to prevent accidental needle sticks, which can lead to blood borne diseases including HIV and hepatitis. The emotional impact of needle stick and sharp injuries can be severe and long lasting, even when a serious infection is not transmitted. The sharps and needles are dropped into the container without touching the outside of the container. Proper use of a sharps container includes pickup by or delivery to an approved “red bag” or medical waste treatment site. In addition to this pre-existing safety measure, U.S. medical and educational staff is federally required to be tested on their knowledge of blood borne pathogens. During the last ten years, increased worldwide focus on safety and environmental impact has led to several positive government mandates being issued regarding engineered medical device standards and the reduction of clinical waste output from health facilities.
Suction canisters are extensively used in hospitals when it is necessary to create suction. In surgery, suction can be used to remove blood from the area being operated on to allow surgeons to view and work on the area. Suction may be used to clear the airway of blood, saliva, vomit, or other secretions so that a patient may breathe. Suctioning can prevent pulmonary aspiration, which can lead to lung infections. In pulmonary toilet, suction is used to remove fluids from the airways, to facilitate breathing and prevent growth of microorganisms. Suction devices may be mechanical hand pumps or battery or electrically operated mechanisms.
Current ink and toner cartridges are made from plastic material. An ink or inkjet cartridge is a replaceable component of a printer that contains the ink. Each ink cartridge contains one or more partitioned ink reservoirs; certain manufacturers also add electronic contacts and a chip that communicates with the printer. A toner cartridge, also called laser toner, is the consumable component of a laser printer or copy machine. Toner cartridges contain toner powder, a fine, dry mixture of plastic particles, carbon, and black or other coloring agents that make the actual image on the paper. The toner is transferred to paper via an electro statically charged drum unit, and fused onto the paper by heated rollers during the printing process. Some toner cartridges incorporate the drum unit in the cartridge and therefore replacing the toner cartridge means replacing the drum unit.
It would be desirable to provide bioplastic syringes with the needle caps and needle safety shields, multidose syringes, specimen tubes, scalpels, lancets, sharp disposal containers, suction canisters, printer and copy machine ink and toner cartridges, and methods for environmentally safe disposal of these items.